Wrongful Death Claims and What Families Need to Know
A call from the at-fault driver’s insurance company often comes within days of a fatal crash, sometimes with an early settlement offer attached. Under Kansas law, when a death is caused by someone else’s negligence or wrongful act, the heirs who suffered a loss because of that death can bring a wrongful death claim for their financial and personal losses.
That right generally lasts only two years from the date of death, and Kansas caps one major category of damages. If the death happened in Missouri, a different set of rules applies.
Hyland Law Firm LLC represents families in Overland Park, Kansas, and on both sides of the state line who are deciding whether to pursue a wrongful death claim after a car accident, an unsafe property, a defective product, or a workplace incident caused by someone other than the employer. Before signing a release or giving a recorded statement, families can talk with the firm about which state’s law applies and how much time remains.
What Makes a Death “Wrongful”
In both Kansas and Missouri, a family can bring a wrongful death claim only if the person who died could have sued for the injury had they lived. The case rests on the same proof as a serious injury case, such as evidence that a driver ran a red light or a property owner ignored a known hazard. A wrongful death claim is also a civil case, separate from any criminal prosecution, so families do not need a criminal conviction to pursue compensation.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?
In Kansas, any one of the deceased person’s heirs at law who suffered a loss may file the case. The lawsuit benefits every heir who suffered a loss, whether or not that heir joins it, and the court divides the recovery in proportion to each heir’s loss.
“Heirs at law” means the relatives who would inherit under Kansas law, so a surviving spouse or children generally come ahead of parents. In one Kansas Supreme Court case, a widow whose husband had no children was his sole heir, and his parents could not bring the claim.
Missouri’s wrongful death statute groups eligible family members into classes instead:
First class: The spouse, children, descendants of any deceased children, and parents. Because parents belong to this class, a parent can sue even when a spouse or children survive.
Second class: Brothers and sisters, or their descendants, but only if no one in the first class exists.
Plaintiff ad litem: A court-appointed representative, used when neither class has an eligible member.
Missouri allows only one wrongful death action against each defendant for each death, so eligible family members generally need to coordinate. Missouri also lets families recover the person’s pre-death losses, such as medical bills and pain suffered before death, within the wrongful death claim. Kansas handles those losses in a separate survival action brought by the estate.
Damages Available and the $250,000 Kansas Cap
Kansas law allows heirs to recover for bereavement, lost companionship, lost care and guidance, and funeral expenses. These damages fall into three groups:
Pecuniary (financial) losses: Lost income, support, household services, and other economic benefits the family could reasonably have expected. Kansas sets no statutory cap on these losses.
Nonpecuniary (personal) losses: Grief, lost companionship, and lost guidance. These are capped at $250,000 total for all heirs combined.
Medical and funeral expenses: The cost of the person’s injury-related care and reasonable funeral expenses. These do not count toward the cap.
Kansas’s damages statute sets the cap, and the court reduces any higher jury award afterward. In 2019, the Kansas Supreme Court struck down the noneconomic damages cap in personal injury cases, but that ruling did not reach the wrongful death cap, which remains in effect.
Because the cap limits the personal side of the case, the uncapped financial losses often determine the value of a Kansas wrongful death claim. That makes pay records, tax returns, and evidence of the childcare or home care the person provided especially important.
Missouri lets juries award financial losses, funeral expenses, and the value of lost services, companionship, comfort, guidance, and support. A typical Missouri case has no Kansas-style $250,000 limit, although separate limits apply in medical negligence cases. Missouri does not allow damages for grief and bereavement themselves, and a jury may consider aggravating or mitigating circumstances surrounding the death.
How the Deceased Person’s Share of Fault Affects Recovery
Under Kansas comparative negligence law, the deceased person's fault is assigned to the heirs. That percentage reduces the award. If the deceased’s share of fault is at least the combined fault of the parties being sued, the family recovers nothing.
Missouri uses pure comparative fault. The award is reduced by the deceased person’s percentage of fault, but the family can still recover even when the deceased was mostly at fault.
In both states, insurers often focus on the deceased's mistakes, such as speeding or not wearing a seatbelt. Preserving crash data, video, and witness accounts early helps answer those arguments.
Filing Deadlines in Kansas and Missouri
Kansas’s two-year filing deadline generally starts on the date of death. The Kansas Supreme Court has recognized an exception when information about the death or its cause was concealed or misrepresented, but families should not count on it.
When a death followed medical care, a separate four-year outer limit measured from the treatment date can bar a Kansas claim even if the family acts quickly. Cases against a government body carry their own procedural requirements.
Missouri generally allows three years from the date of death. That extra year can mislead families, because which state’s law applies depends on the facts of the case. Until that question is settled, the safer approach is to treat the shorter Kansas deadline as the working deadline.
Get Compassionate Legal Help During Hard Times
When you’re planning a funeral, covering lost income, and fielding calls from an insurer all at once, legal deadlines are easy to lose track of. Compassionate attorney Charles Hyland can review what happened, explain which state’s rules apply, and handle communication with the insurance company so you can focus on your family. Hyland Law Firm LLC serves families in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. To talk through your options, call wrongful death attorney Charles Hyland in Overland Park at (913) 498-1911.